Quotes / Stepford Suburbia

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We can build a house for two, with little ones to follow Proof of our normality that justifies tomorrow

—Crass, "Smother Love"

Well we might'a made some friends with some billionaires We might'a got all nice and friendly if we'd made it upstairs All I got was a note that said "bye-bye john" Our love is 57 channels and nothin' on"

This could be heaven Shallow spreads of ordered lawns I like the illusion, illusion of privacy The careful trees blending so perfectly Bland planned idle luxury A caviar of perfect dignity Life in lovely allotted slots A token nice, a nice constitution A layered mass of subtle props

Most intelligent people recognize that suburban sprawl is a blight. A lot of people also realize that walkable cities and well-planned communities would be a huge improvement on ghost malls, suburban slums and other hideous after-effects of developer greed and stupidity.

The American suburbs are a place for disaffected white people to live out their bland existences while a dark subcurrent of perversion and anxiety lurks just underneath. I don't want that ruined. How will Todd Solondz ever make a movie again if every asshole in the suburbs IS Todd Solondz?

Something that has crept into television over the past two decades is the examination of the perfect American family (an image they were keen to exploit in the early days of television) and revealing its dark underbelly like picking up a perfect stone and seeing the dirt and bugs that fester and hide underneath.

When all is said and done, Pleasant Homes residents are content. They become more focused and slip into the routine of work. Leisure activities center on the planned golf course or group activities. Parents find themselves actually able to trust their neighbors and let their children play in the street. Indeed, all the rough corners in their lives seem to just smooth over, so long as they listen to the beat of the Weaver thrumming through the dappled lanes. Pleasant Homes communities are crawling with Weaver spirits dedicated to making sure that those who live in their webs fit in and conform. Pesky details like individuality melt away. While living there is not a guaranteed ticket to becoming a drone, those neighborhoods do seem to be breeding grounds for the Weaver's human servants...

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